Bridging the Gap
by apalusa-light
Summary: Rory and Logan both made mistakes in the end, but can they make things right again? Or are some mistakes too great?
1. Prologue: Thinking of You

A/N: This story just sort of came to me one night and no matter what I did I couldn't not write it. The first bit might be somewhat confusing, but I'll try to make things as clear as I can. Let me know what you think, and if you have questions feel free to ask.

And just so you know, while I do own a great many things, Gilmore Girls does not number among them.

**Prologue - Thinking of You  
**

_Wide open, alright. There is nothing but wide open out here and it really, it isn't... it sucks_. Rory thought to herself as she leaned her forehead against the window of the campaign bus and tuned out the voices of the other reporters surrounding her. Two weeks riding this bus everyday, sleeping in really crappy motel rooms - when they actually had the opportunity to sleep in something besides the bus itself, eating really bad food and drinking really bad coffee was starting to get on her nerves. To think she could, at this very moment, be sitting in a nicely air conditioned house while drinking a cup of superbly flavored coffee and reading the paper, or looking out the window at an avocado tree while bantering with Logan over the headlines and arguing over who got to have the comics section first... _No!!_

_I made a decision. Maybe it was a bad decision but it was a decision none the less and I have to stick to it. It doesn't matter how much I loved him, or even that I wanted to marry him someday, he took those options away when he made it 'all or nothing.' In the end, he wasn't willing to wait and I just, I wasn't willing to jump yet._

So rather than think about all the disappointment her current situation was dishing out, Rory closed her eyes and willed herself to sleep, because at least in dreams she was still whole.

--

Logan stared dispassionately at the tree in his backyard. _It was stupid to think that she'd actually want to move here. That she'd want to move with me. To marry me. Why did I ask her? Good God! She was only just graduating and she had such big plans. Dreams and ambitions that a couple years ago I might not have been able to understand, but I do now. I do. Why would I give her an ultimatum like that? I should have given her more time, I should have waited 6 months. A year. We had our whole lives ahead of us... and now we have nothing. Nothing but the memories._

--

Hello Friend,

At least I hope we can still be friends. After the way things were left between us, I'm not really sure. I don't even know if you'll read this. You might not want to open the envelope and I guess I can't really blame you.

I'm sorry. This was never the way I wanted things to be. I never dreamed that _this_ is where we'd end up. I'm sorry that I hurt you, it was never my intention to do so, but I hope you'll believe me when I say that I'm hurting too. More than I thought was possible. But I guess I shouldn't be too surprised; I didn't know it was possible to love someone as much I love you either.

I don't know what else to say to you that won't just make things worse, though I'm not entirely sure things can get much worse, but I suppose I should just stop.

Be safe. And hopefully you're happy. At least somewhat.

Thinking of you.

Yours.


	2. After This Much Time

A/N: The POV in this chapter has changed and I'm pretty sure this is how it will remain from now on. If for some reason I change my mind, I will let you know. ;) Beyond that, I hope you'll enjoy this chapter and again, if you have any questions, comments or critiques that you'd like to give - by all means just hit the 'go' button at the bottom of the page.

Thank you to the following people for their comments and support of the first chapter of this story: ange87, TEACHMommy08, halfadash, Rogan Fan, iwannabegilmore, Ilovemydad, Curley-Q, SassyAni.

As a general response to what I'm sure you're all wondering regarding the letters at the end of the last chapter and all the chapters that will appear in this story - who wrote the letter?? - well... I've written the letters in a way to keep them purposely ambiguous, so that it could seem that either Logan or Rory could have written them. What I will tell you is that the letters while not necessarily sequential, do appear chronologically to when they were sent. As well, all of the letters that will appear in this story take place between the time of Rory's graduation and the day on which Rory and Logan first see each other again. You'll know when you see it.

So again, thank you all and I hope you enjoy this next chapter of the story.

I don't own Gilmore Girls or anything else that is affiliated with them, but in a perfect world I would.

**After This Much Time**

The lapping sound of the water against the sand allowed Logan's thoughts to drift... To a place in his mind that he'd actively been trying to avoid for months. But here he sat more than three months later and every time he tried to find a little peace, inevitably he went back in his mind. To her. To them. To what could have been, if only he'd been willing to wait. After three months he was more than capable of admitting that giving Rory an 'all or nothing' ultimatum was a juvenile act, instinctive in many ways. After all, the way he'd been raised had taught him that the only way to protect yourself sometimes was to lash out and hurt others before they had a chance to hurt you. So apparently for all his beliefs that he'd grown up and become a 'mature and responsible adult,' in some ways he was still the bitter society boy that Rory had met three years ago.

He'd thought about calling her. Hundreds of times. And hundreds of times he'd hung the phone back up before it even had a chance to connect the call, sometimes even before he'd finished dialing. There was nothing he could truly say to her to make things better. He still wants her with him, wants to wake up with her beside him. The reasons, or at least some of them, for lashing out the way he had and the things he'd told her were still true, he didn't want to go back to a long distance relationship. He didn't want to feel as though they were moving backwards, instead of continuing down the road of their lives, together... His thoughts continued to ebb and flow, like the tide, but one thought kept drifting back to shore each time.

_Could they really be much further apart then they are now?_

--

Procrastination was something that Rory rarely allowed herself to indulge in. Sure, she took her time making decisions and always made sure to try and view a problem or issue from every angle, but when it came to her emotions and her personal life, somehow she wasn't always as... diligent. After all it had been more than three months since her graduation from Yale and it was only now that she was hiding in the bathroom of some rundown motel in the middle of Utah that she was facing something she'd been fearing since that day. For months she'd been trying to tell herself that there was no way that it could be true, they had always been so careful - especially in that sense - it just couldn't be, especially now that Logan had left. Or she'd left. It depended on who's "side" you were on.

She'd run into Colin and Finn in Atlanta five weeks ago. They knew what had happened, since Logan had apparently spent the first three days after her graduation drowning himself in a bottle with the pair and telling them everything. But just like Logan, they couldn't believe that she'd said no, or more accurately that she "couldn't" and didn't understand why if she loved him, she would give him up. She'd try to make them see things from her perspective but no matter what she'd told them and no matter that they were sympathetic to the pain that she was feeling, Logan was still their best friend and he was hurting too. Rosemary and Juliet were much the same, even if they did have a bit more compassion to Rory's point of view, they - all of them - felt like Rory had left him. Lane, Paris, Olivia and even Lucy were firmly of the opinion that Logan made the choice to walk, that even though she hadn't said yes to his proposal, she hadn't been saying no to him.

And that was why she was sitting on the side of a yellowed enamel bathtub, three and a half months later, staring at the white stick on the counter across from her. Another 30 seconds and she'd know. Another 30 seconds and she'd find out if even after giving everything up to persue her dreams, she was going to have to give those up too, or at the very least, postpone them. Ten seconds now and she'd know if that nebulous thought that had been in the back of her mind since graduation was right and she really had made the biggest mistake of her life when she'd watched him walk away, instead of chasing after him and never letting go.

_5, 4, 3, 2, 1..._

--

My Dear Friend,

Because I've decided to choose that we are.

Was it all a mistake do you think? All of it. No strings, then strings, and then _rings_... Or did we just lose something there right at the end that would have made everything else okay? Did I? I've thought about it a lot you know, and I still haven't decided. I should know, don't you think? Do you? Or was everything really fine until that day? Some days I think it was, others, well those days I'm not really sure.

I do know that I regret the way things are now, the way they've turned out. In our time together you became more to me than just a lover. You'd become one of my best friends and now there are so many things that I'd like to be able to say to you, to tell you about, and I can't. I can't even pick up the phone and call you, I'm so afraid that the moment you hear my voice you'd just hang up.

I've got to get going for now, but if there is one thing that I really must say it's this: if what was done was really the 'right thing' for us, I don't think it would hurt this much. At least, I don't think it would hurt this much, after this much time.

Still Yours.


	3. Finally Big Enough

A/N: I want to thank all of you who have read and/or reviewed this story so far and in doing so, I'd like to acknowledge the following: TEACHMommy08, iwannabegilmore, SassyAni, iyasunflower, Curley-Q, gglver123, halfadash, ange87, Logan's Ace, Rogan Fan, and claireheart.

I know it's been a while and I am sorry, but I've got a new baby at home so I'm just doing the best that I can, whenever I can. I will continue to write and update (on all my stories - keep your fingers crossed) but I can't say when or how often those updates will be. Hope you like it.... Let me know.

I like to live in fantasy but even there, I don't own Gilmore Girls or their men.

**Finally Big Enough**

She was going home. She wasn't expected there and though she was sure that everyone would be glad to see her, she highly doubted her return would be lauded for reasons that would be appreciated. It had been two months since she'd hidden in that ugly bathroom in Utah and discovered that no matter how hard you plan for things, sometimes life intervenes - or interferes - and you have to reassess. Two months since she'd found out that whatever her reasons, or his, and regardless of who was to blame, what happened at her graduation was a mistake. Whether they could ever come back from that and whether they'd even want to, her hesitation and his ultimatum, her giving the ring back and his walking away, all of it was a mistake. She just didn't know how to fix it. Where to begin. So she was going home.

It was three days before her 23rd birthday. The Primaries had finished up less than a week earlier and the agreement she'd worked out with Hugo after the 'Utah Discovery' was complete. She'd told him then about what had happened and what she'd just learned. She'd explained that she wasn't entirely sure what she was going to do but that she knew she was going to have to leave the campaign trail. Hugo had, of course, understood but had asked if she'd stay on until after the Primaries so that he could have her replacement start after the Thanksgiving break. She'd agreed, she'd even offered to act in collaboration with her replacement - if needed - until the new journalist was more comfortable, not only in the position but with people on the tour and with the subject matter. So it had been decided that Rory's name would continue to appear as a collaborator between Thanksgiving and Christmas, but after the New Year, the new guy was on his own. Hugo was going to keep her 'on staff' and Rory was going to continue to write opinion pieces and things like she'd done while at Yale, at least for a couple of months anyways. After that they'd have to see.

But for right now she was in a taxi on her way to her home town for the first time in nearly six months. In just a short while she'd be seeing her mother for the first time in nearly six months. And as soon as her mother saw her, Lorelai would know - just as everyone else would when they saw her too - that Rory had been keeping a rather big secret for quite some time. There was nothing else for it though, she told herself in preparation as the taxi started down the lane that led to the front door of the Dragonfly. She was excited to see her mom and everyone else too, though she knew that the gossip was going to be horrible, but one thing kept her from being truly happy. One thought.

_Is this truly where my home is, now?_

--

Logan was in a bad mood. One of the partners in the internet company had been on sick leave for the last three weeks, due to a knee surgery he'd had to undergo, and Logan and another of the partners had taken on his work load while he was gone. Yesterday Logan had flown to Vancouver, Canada, to meet with a prospective investor there, and today his return flight had been delayed by 5 hours because of a snowstorm. It wasn't so much the delay that had Logan on edge and cranky, no, it was the woman who upon finding out that he was traveling alone and was on the same flight that she was, had then decided that she was going to try and seduce him. And she'd need some liquid courage to help her along. Three years ago a good looking, drunk female would have been fair game and Logan would have been more than willing to let her seduce him, but that was three years ago. And today just wasn't a good one to begin with.

It was Rory's birthday the next day. He wasn't entirely sure where she was, but he'd bet that she would be celebrating. Lorelai would wake her up in the middle of the night, at the time of her birth, and they'd 'relive' her birth day. He'd been right there last year with Rory, home on a surprise trip from London, listening to the Lorelais' banter. He'd just listened to them, all the while holding Rory in his arms and thinking that she was so much happier than she had been the year before, on her 21st birthday, when she hadn't been speaking to her mom. After the phone call was over, Rory had turned to face him and had told him, and showed him, how happy she really was.

So much had changed since then and her birthday just brought that all back to the forefront of his mind. He wouldn't get to hold her this year and share that with her. He wouldn't get to see her smiling face when she received her presents. Or hear her laughter when she opened them. He was alone and, not for the first time in six months, the extent to which Rory had become the most important thing in his life was driven home. And, not for the first time in recent months, he had to consider if 'all or nothing' was the stupidest thing he could have asked of her.

_Nothing could have been worse than this. At the least, a long distance relationship would still have been a relationship. _

--

My Best Friend,

I've missed you so much. Not being able to talk to you, even if only to discuss our day, has been so hard. I was wrong about something when I first wrote. I didn't think I could feel worse about how things are between us now. But I do. Ironic, isn't it? I'd hoped that writing might make me feel better. It just makes me realize how much we're missing, how much we've lost.

I've found the answers to some of our questions, and I say 'our' because I'm sure you've asked yourself the same ones I have. We did a lot of things wrong when we were together. In the beginning, the middle and at the end. We made a lot of mistakes, but we worked through them and somehow we always managed to turn things around. In the beginning and in the middle. In the end, while letting go was a mistake and a pretty big one at that, I think the biggest mistake was in leaving it at _that_. Neither of us wanted to admit that we were wrong.

So now I'm finally big enough to admit that I was. Are you?

Curiously, Forever Yours.


	4. Stepping Stones

A/N: So here's another chapter, and again I feel the need to thank all those who read and commented on the last installment of this piece: MaDdy, iyasunflower, Rogan Fan, claireheart, halfadash, Juzzy88, Curley-Q, LoganRory Fan, gilmoregeek13, iwannabeagilmore, Lollo, Michelle, SassyAni... Thanks a lot, all of you.

As you'll see the story format starts to change in this chapter (there's finally dialogue) but the letters at the end will still continue to remain anonymous. But remember that all of the letters that you have seen, or will see for that matter, occur prior to Rory and Logan seeing each other again for the first time.

All right, here's the next chapter, but just so you know: I don't own anything in this story except for the plot - the characters belong to ASP and WB.

* * *

**Stepping Stones**

_Deep breaths. Just take deep breaths and everything will be okay._ Rory repeated the thought over and over as she carried her bags up the steps of her mom's Inn and through the door. Michel held a finger up to her; telling her, or asking in his way, that he'd be with her in just a moment. Rory set her bags down on the floor of the small lobby but out of the way of the guests and the Inn's employees. After a minute Michel finally hung up the phone and glanced in Rory's direction. If she weren't so nervous his quick double take would have been really amusing. Instead she swallowed nervously and asked the question she wasn't entirely sure she wanted an answer to.

"Hi Michel. Is my mom here?"

"Rory!" He said in surprise, and his eyes widened even further in surprise as he took in her appearance. Rather than say anything more he just motioned Rory towards the office.

Rory nodded in response and started towards the door. Before knocking she turned back and smiled weakly at him. "Do you think you could get her some coffee? I think she's going to need a lot of it."

"Of course." Michel replied in his sharp French accent. "Would you like anything?"

"Maybe, um, tea." Rory told him with some surprise that he would actually ask. "A Chamomile or Jasmine. Oh, or blackberry, if Sookie's got it."

He nodded and then went out around the desk and headed for the kitchens. Rory watched him go and then turned back to the door of her mother's office and knocked softly. She heard a groan from inside and nothing more, so she took that as permission to enter; even though she would have entered without it. Her mother sat on the small couch in her office with one arm thrown over her eyes and started speaking almost immediately when the door opened.

"Michel, I've told you a thousand times not to bother me while I'm working on the books. I need to concentrate on what I'm doing and be able to think clearly without your voice echoing inside my head. So please don't even bother speaking and just turn around and leave. And shut the door behind you on your way out." Lorelai's voice was both weary and resigned as she ranted at the person she assumed was Michel.

Rory rolled her eyes at her mothers words and closed the door lightly behind her back before she spoke up. "You're lucky that it's just me and not Michel. If he saw you in here sitting like this you'd never hear the end of his complaints about how you've obviously been slacking off."

At the sound of her daughters voice Lorelai's entire body, her entire being, snapped to attention. She bolted straight up to her feet, her mouth opened in surprise and her eyes - one of the many shared traits between mother and daughter - became brilliant with her joy. And then those eyes widened, just like Michel's had, as they took in her appearance and the obvious changes to her body.

"Rory!" Lorelai gasped softly as if not sure that if her daughter was truly standing in front of her. Rory smiled weakly in response and blinked her own eyes rapidly as if trying to hold back tears. She said nothing. She just stood there letting her mother take in her changed appearance and waited for her reaction, whether it be good or bad.

Lorelai didn't know what to say, what to think. True, it had been six months since she'd actually seen her daughter in person - they had done the whole webcam chatting thing a time or two - but she'd never expected, never dreamed, that her daughter would come home pregnant. And so obviously pregnant at that. What hit her hardest though was the realization that not only was Rory pregnant, but she hadn't said a word about it. She had kept it a secret, when Lorelai had thought that they didn't have any secrets between them. She brought her eyes back to Rory's and when she might have spoken, might have voiced that hurt and that disappointment, she saw the nervousness and the fear in Rory's expression. Whatever pain she felt, there was no way that she could hurt her daughter, no way she would react even remotely as her parents had when she'd gone to them and told them she was pregnant, so she did the only thing she could do.

With a harsh release of breath, for she hadn't even realized she'd been holding her breath, Lorelai rushed forward and wrapped her arms around her best friend. "Oh, honey. Oh, baby." She said and they both cried as Rory's arms reached around her mothers body and held on tight.

Several minutes later the Gilmore girls loosened their holds on each other and pulled back slightly to look at the other.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Lorelai asked softly.

Rory used one hand to wipe tears from her eyes and off her cheeks before she answered. "I haven't told Logan yet. I didn't want to do it over the phone or in a letter; he deserves better than that. And so did you."

"But Rory, honey, its.... You must be six months pregnant if its Logan's, unless you've seen him since you left but I hope you'd have told me that, and seriously babe that's a heck of a long time to keep a secret just on the basis of us deserving better than a phone call." Lorelai told her. She tried to keep the censure out of her tone but could tell by the look on Rory's face that she hadn't managed to do a very good job of it.

"I know. I'm sorry mom." Rory told her on a broken sigh. "I'm so sorry that I've disappointed you."

"You haven't disappointed me. Not really." Lorelai told her firmly. Yes, she could admit to herself that she did feel a bit disappointed but it wasn't because Rory was pregnant, it was that she felt like she'd missed out on something amazing. The whole discovery and doctors appointments and all the other craziness that Lorelai knows from experience comes with pregnancy.

"Do I feel left out? Yes. Do I feel like you should have told me sooner? As soon as you found out? Yes. But babe, I've been where you are, I've had to do the whole 'who do I tell and how do I tell them' and the 'when should I tell them' dance. I get it. If I'm disappointed, it's not because you're pregnant honey, I promise."

Rory watched her mother. She'd been so sure that Lorelai would be immensely upset, so sure that she would be angry. She could see that she was upset and even Lorelai had admitted to some pain, but as she looked carefully Rory couldn't see, or sense, any deception in what Lorelai said. Thank God. Her mother, super-mom that she was, was doing what Rory hadn't wanted to hope she would do. She was standing by her through thick and thin, no matter what, and Rory couldn't be more grateful.

"Now," Lorelai said in a firm voice. "Tell me everything."

So Rory did. And as she talked with her mom Rory knew that no matter what happened she would be okay.

-----

Later that night Rory lay in her childhood bed and stared at the ceiling of her bedroom in her childhood home, because that is what it was now. She'd wondered if her mother's house and the entire town of Stars Hollow would still feel like home, she'd wanted to prepare herself for the very real possibility that it wouldn't, and she was right. The wacky community and her mother had opened their arms to her again and all of them, including her mother surprisingly, believed that despite her current situation everything would work out for the best. Whether they thought that meant she'd end up like her mother and raise her child alone, and never feel as if something was missing, or if they believed that she'd end with up with the baby's father and live a full and happy life she didn't know. But they had accepted her back, with shock and with love and already Miss Patty and Babette were planning on having a baby shower for her.

While Rory was happy, and considerably relieved, she had a plan of her own. A plan that she discussed with her mother briefly earlier in the evening and which the two of them would be paying a visit to her father about the next day. One that would, hopefully, take her to the place and to the person that was home for her now.

* * *

My Better Half,

I know I was wrong, I knew it right away. How could I not have? We weren't meant to be like this, not after all we went through. Not after all we were to one another. No, that's wrong too. That shouldn't be past tense. Everything we were, we still are, there's just more between us now. More heartache. More learned. More history.

I won't pretend that every time I receive another letter from you that my heart doesn't do a twist in my chest. I won't pretend that it's not painful to only have the letters and not the sound of your voice. But I keep reminding myself that the letters are a link to you and if they're all I'll get until we're ready for more again, well, I'd rather suffer that momentary twist of pain than have nothing at all. And I have to believe that we are going to have more again, eventually. If not, then really, what would the point be?

You're right about all the mistakes we made while we were together and how we made it through the rough patches. It was stupid of us not to fight harder. Both of us. We both gave up there at the end, and looking back I can't understand why I did it, can you? Thing is though, we didn't give up entirely, did we? We're writing the letters. We're saying what needs said and doing what we each need to do. These are the stepping stones that are leading us back to each other. The path to saving us.

Always, Yours.


	5. Difference Between Now and Then

A/N: Another day, another chapter... :)

Thanks once more to all of you who've read and commented - you know who you are so I'm not going to list you all down again.

I don't own the rights, but I own this idea. I hope you like it.

* * *

**Difference Between Now and Then**

The guys thought they needed to cheer him up. Maybe they did. He could admit that he'd been in a pretty awful mood a couple days ago when Finn had called to see if he was coming back for the LDB holiday event next week. He hadn't expected that the gang would show up en masse this weekend. Though, knowing Finn's brand of logic, he probably should have. And he could also admit that he was in a much better mood today than he had been then.

_Sometimes it takes bad times to make you realize how good your friends really are._ He thought to himself as he looked around the table at the rag tag group that had been his friends since before their high school days. Colin and Stephanie, who were still dancing around each other. Juliet and Robert, cousins, who disliked each other almost as much as they liked one another. And of course Rosemary and Finn, who still couldn't come to an understanding as to what their relationship was going to amount to. The only person who was missing from recent get together's of the group, _and wasn't it just a kick in the ass to know it was his own fault,_ was Rory. She hadn't been around before high school like the others had but, in the three years that she had been with him, she'd made herself an integral part of the group.

"So what are the plans for the holiday?" Steph asked the group as a whole. She, Juliet and Rosemary had been in Hawaii on Maui when Finn had called them to tell them they needed to come back early and stop for a visit with Logan in San Fran, so the three of them hadn't learned what everyone's finalized plans were yet. Groans went around the table at the reminder that over the next several weeks most of them would be at the mercy of their parents wishes.

Logan chuckled because for the first time he wasn't required to spend evening after evening following his parents from holiday party to holiday party or attending one on behalf of the Huntzberger family. He smirked and took a sip from his glass of scotch.

"I'll be back Wednesday for the LDB Alumni party and then I'm spending some time with Honor and Josh. Apparently there's an announcement in the air and she wants back up, again, when she tells mom and dad. And grandfather." Logan answered the question since none of the others seemed inclined to.

"Pregnant?" Colin asked with a raised brow.

Logan shrugged. "Probably. She didn't really say, just that she had an announcement. She seemed happy though, so I think so."

"But I though she was married." Steph said confused.

"She is." Finn confirmed then continued with a glance at Logan. "Two years now isn't it?"

"Just short of that. March." Logan answered. "So what are you all slated for?"

Everyone answered at the same time. There were multiple names and locations stated for each of the nights over the weekend but the voices trailed off and his friends all looked at each other uneasily.

"What?" Logan asked when he realized the others were all avoided making eye contact with him. Then he repeated the question again, a little louder, a little more commanding, when no one responded. "What???"

Finally Robert cleared his throat and met Logan's eyes. They had a rocky history where Rory was concerned but Robert couldn't help but respect both Logan and Rory for the relationship they'd had together. "The Gilmore's are having a party Friday night. We're all invited. Apparently it's some kind of belated birthday party for Reporter Girl combined with the holiday."

Logan didn't say anything but he nodded and took another drink from his Scotch. Each of his friends were looking at him now. Each of them was wondering, now, what his response was going to be and what it would do to his mood. None of them expected the response they got. "I figured they'd do something like that if she was going to be home. I guess she is."

The others were silent, somewhat shocked by his nonchalance and none of them were sure what to say.

"Were you invited to the Gilmore's?" Juliet asked him in a soft voice.

"I have no idea." Logan told her honestly. "Honor mentioned that there were several invitations addressed to me at my parents house but she didn't open them. One of them could possibly be from Richard and Emily. I guess I won't find out until I get there next week."

Colin narrowed his eyes and looked closely at his oldest and best friend. "And if one of them is, are you going to go?"

"I don't know." Logan responded, again, honestly. "I guess I'd have to think about it."

"Logan..." Finn said at the same time that the doorbell rang.

Using the bell as a happy escape, Logan got up from the table and headed to the front of the house, giving his friends a muttered "be right back" on his way out of the room. He nearly tripped over someones shoe in the entry way and paused to kick it out of the way before he opened the door. He was nudging another pair out of the way as he pulled the door open and so didn't see who was there until they spoke.

"Hi." She said and then swallowed hard as she got her first look at the man she loved in nearly six months. At the sound of her voice Logan's head snapped up and their eyes locked on one another's.

They stared at each other silently. Each of them taking in the others appearance - Rory seeing that the body, and face, that she'd always loved had become even better with all of the hiking and biking and surfing that Logan had been doing. And Logan, in shock, took in the obvious and not-so-obvious changes of her body. He stared mystified at her stomach for more than a full minute before his eyes flew her to hers again and an unvoiced question appeared there.

"I---" Was all that Rory managed to get out before Logan had pulled her in to his arms and her tears, damn her hormones, came. Her arms came around him and they clung to each other in the open door way for several minutes before they pulled back and Logan wiped the tears from her face with his thumbs. After another minute Rory turned slightly and waved to the driver who'd brought her from the airport to Logan's house, and seeing that as a signal the man got back into the black _Towncar_ and started to drive away.

She turned back to Logan, who was still holding on to one of her arms, and smiled slightly. "Can I come in?"

"What?" Logan asked her, blinking and shaking his head as though trying to clear his head, or his vision. "Yeah. Yeah, come in. Just watch your step, there are shoes everywhere." And he moved back, opening the door further, and pulled her into the house since he was still holding her arm.

"Thanks."

After he closed the door they stood there in silence, both of them looking at each other. Logan was still assimilating the fact that Rory was there, and not only was she there, she was pregnant. In the maelstrom of thoughts in his mind he realized that she was either six months pregnant and the baby was his, or she was less than that and it wasn't his, but neither option was an easy pill to swallow. His rational mind told him that if it wasn't his child she wouldn't be there, while the irrational part of him insisted that if it was his, she would have told him sooner.

Finally Rory found her voice, mostly because she was distinctly uncomfortable with his silence. "Logan, I would have come sooner... I should have come sooner, but I was, I didn't realize until September what was happening to me and by then Hugo was depending on me, and when I talked to him he agreed to let me out of my contract if I would keep working until the Primaries were over. I told him I would and then when those were over I went home to the Hollow for a few days get rid of all my work stuff and my clothes and to explain to mom - I hadn't told her yet either - and then I came here."

Logan blinked. It had been a while since he'd heard Rory's rambling and so it took a minute for his brain to catch up to the speed of her speech and to understand everything that she'd said. "You only found out in September?"

"Around the tenth. I was already into my fourth month." She answered. Logan blinked again. "I'm due on February 8th."

"And you just told your mom??" Despite their situation, though it was remarkably better than most people believed, he found it hard to believe that she'd kept something as important as her being pregnant from her mom, even if she had been keeping it from him too.

Rory smiled slightly again. "Yeah. I didn't want to tell her before I told you, but then I was closer to Connecticut after the Primaries than I was to California, so I figured I could stop there and lose all the clothes that don't actually fit me anymore and a bunch of my travel gear from the campaign trail, and I guess kill two birds with one stone by telling her too. She and dad actually sprung for my plane ticket, and the driver, to get me here."

She ran out of steam, again, they stood in silence and looked at each other some more. And again it was her that became unnerved by the silence first. "Say something. Please."

"You should have come sooner. Even if you couldn't have stayed, you should have come." Logan finally said. "Or you could have asked me to meet you somewhere and I would have come right away."

"I know." She told him. "I thought of that. And mom and dad said the same thing."

"You could have called me, or even told me in a letter. Ace," Logan he started to continue but she cut him off.

"You deserved to hear it face to face Logan. After everything that we've been through, you deserved that. And I guess, I felt like my coming to you would show you that everything I said in those letters, everything we discussed and wrote about was true. I didn't want you to feel like I'd only come back because of the baby. And I need you to understand that I really didn't know I was pregnant till I was in Utah at the beginning of September. The possibility hadn't even occurred to me until then." Rory explained, or attempted to.

"Oh, Ace, I know that. You're not the kind of person to be manipulative that way." Logan assured her softly and with those few words Rory's eyes filled with moisture and a pair of tears slipped through her lashes and onto her cheeks. "Hey now, don't cry Ace. Don't, please."

She sniffed back the tears and scrubbed the moisture from her face with the sleeve of her jacket. "It's the hormones. I feel like all I've done for the past week is cry. Most of the time for no particular reason."

"And I know how much you hate to cry." Logan said.

"It sucks." She muttered and looked at him with eyes still glassy and wet. He reached out and wiped another tear that fell.

"Ace?"

"Hhmm?" She responded as he moved closer to her and cupped her face with both hands.

"I love you." He told her and her shoulders slumped, and the tears started again. "And everything is going to be okay. We'll figure it out together and it'll be okay." And then he leaned forward and through the tears gave her a sweet, soft kiss on the lips. As his lips touched hers and she slid her arms around him again, one word flashed through her mind.

_Home_.

* * *

My Love,

You are, as usual, right. And I am, as always, amazed by you. I don't know how you do it, but you always know just what to say to make me feel better about something. How do you do it? It's a good skill to have, and I think I should try to learn it. You'll teach me, right? After all, where better to learn then at the feet of a master?

I've been thinking some more lately about something you asked me a while ago. About whether things between us were really okay between us right to the end, or if there was something going on that we'd ignored... I think things were okay. I just think that we weren't ready. Not you, and not me. We might have thought we were, but looking back even a couple months and seeing how much things have changed, how much we've changed as individuals, as people, and you can see that it wasn't right. Getting engaged then, getting married at that point just wasn't right. Then.

I do still want to be with you everyday. I do still want to marry you one day. I do still want everything with you. The difference between now and then: I'm not in a hurry. I'll take you when ever I can get you.

I love you.

Yours.


	6. Here's the Deal

So I fell a bit behind as the weekend dragged by, and my husband managed to distract me for a good deal of Sunday, but here's the update that I promised many of you :) When I started writing this story I didn't intend for the chapters to be really long; long enough to tell the story, yes, but not so long that it would take me days to write the individual chapters and make them perfect. So _Bridging the Gap_ isn't turning out exactly as I'd intended, it's still telling the same story and going in the right direction but, like I said, not exactly what I'd initially planned when I plotted this story out. Hopefully we'll all be happy with the final product...

For now folks, I just want to say another thank you to everyone who commented and/or reviewed the last chapter, or any of the other previous chapters since the last update. Reader response is very important to me, it always has been and it always will be, I'd like to believe that it makes me the writer I am - good, bad, creative, unique... whatever. A big thing for me is that I won't post a story or a chapter until I'm happy with it, until it's something that I would enjoy reading and re-reading time and again. Usually that is a great thing in a writer, it almost always garuntees a quality story, however there can be times that is will result in long breaks between chapters. Unfortanately this seems to happen to me quite often, and I apologize for the waits, but I can't apologize for the reason. I'd rather put you through the wait and give you a good read, then push a sub-standard chapter out and have you disappointed. In anycase I'm rambling now and I'm sure you all just want to read the chapter, so...

**_I don't own any of the GG characters, or the locations, but I own this story and I'm not giving it up!!_**

**Here's the Deal**

"We are now on approach to the Hartford International Airport. Will everyone please fasten your seat belts and put your trays and seat backs into the full upright position." The pleasant voice of the pilot informed the passengers of Rory and Logan's flight into Hartford the day before Thanksgiving.

"... And when you 'explained things' to my mom, she what? Said 'no problem, we'll see you in tomorrow morning?'" Rory asked for what, Logan was sure, had to be the one hundredth time since they'd taken off from the airport in San Francisco. "She and Luke, and Dad were expecting us today. That was the plan."

"Sometimes plans change." Logan said patiently, for what also had to be the hundredth time. "Isn't that what you told the gang on Saturday?"

"Oh! Don't even get me started on that..." Rory exclaimed and then started in on it anyway. "How could Robert even suggest that I'd gotten pregnant on purpose? To trap you!"

"Robert's a jerk." Logan inserted, though he had little hope that she'd actually acknowledge it. They'd had this conversation dozens of times since Saturday afternoon when she'd first seen Logan and their friends again. "I told you he was a jerk."

As expected Rory's rant rolled right over his words, though for the sake of the other passengers in the first class section of the plane Rory had her voice several decibels lower than in previous runs of the 'conversation.'

"I mean, think about it. If I was trying to trap you why wouldn't I have said yes, in the first place, when you asked me to marry you? Does he ever think about what he says or is he really so self-absorbed that he doesn't think his words matter. I mean, sure to people who don't know us and didn't know us when we were in Yale the situation would certainly appear as if I was trying to trap you but even then there is that, you know, big part of the equation where I'd turned down your proposal months ago, long before I had any _clue_ that I was pregnant."

"Ace." He tried to stop her before she got into the whole 'we needed to figure out how to be adults before we could get married' argument that she'd been working on for the past couple of days. He'd decided sometime on Monday evening that she'd decided that was the track to take with their families to convince them that their baby wasn't a "mistake" as she'd say in a voice that was frighteningly similar to Emily Gilmore's.

"And--" Whatever she'd been about to say was smothered by his lips moving over hers. She accepted the warmth and the softness of them for a moment, she even deepened the kiss for several beats of his heart, but then she pushed him back lightly with a hand to his shoulder. But he stopped her more efficiently and completely by resting his forehead on hers and speaking very softly.

"Rory, stop."

It was the sound of her name on his lips that gave her pause and she caught his gaze with her own. The stayed like that for a handful of minutes, Logan's hand coming up to rub at the back of her neck to try and relieve some of the tension that had gathered there. Finally he kissed her softly, briefly, one more time on the lips and sat back in his chair.

"I love you, Ace."

"Oh God. I love you too." She answered as she slumped back in her seat and then proceeded to take several deep breaths. Deep breaths.

* * *

Of course by the time the plane had landed and they were collecting their luggage Rory realized that he still hadn't answered her questions about what they were doing. Or where they were going. Or why her mother would agree to whatever Logan's plan had suddenly changed to. When they got to the doors and Rory recognized Frank waiting just inside she decided that whatever it was he had up his sleeve, she _wasn't_ going to be surprised. Or rather, she wasn't going to question the surprise, she was just going to enjoy it. But she was surprised when Frank took her bag and then led them, not to the limo that she'd been expecting, but to a dark SUV with tinted windows. She opened her mouth to ask about it but snapped her jaw shut as she remembered that she'd just told herself to stop asking questions. So she quietly climbed into the back seat - with some help from Logan, and sat back, ready to enjoy the ride.

Logan enjoyed watching the emotions race over Rory's face. He was somewhat surprised that she wasn't asking him a million questions about what they were doing, where they were going, who was going to be there and the other dozen inquisitive things that she'd normally be asking him. Every once in a while her eyes would light up and her mouth would relax some and she'd start to turn her head toward him, only to bite her lip and look back out the window. The longer they were in the car, the more frequently she wanted to ask a question and the more questions she wanted to ask -- especially once Frank turned off the highway onto a secondary road that seemed to go nowhere. As the traveled along the tree lined road Logan watched Rory's anxiety climb. Twice she turned fully to ask him what they were doing, only to see him watching her with an expectant look on his face and quickly turned back to the window to further her observations of where they were going.

Finally, 10 minutes after turning off the highway, Frank turned onto an even narrower road into the trees and Logan took some pity on his Ace.

"You're not going to be able to tell where we're going Ace, and you're not going to recognize the roads either." He told her and he reached over to clasp her hand, hoping that the tactile sensation would draw her attention and curiosity away from the windows. "We're almost there."

"But where are we going Logan? And why are we going there?" She asked, finally unable to keep the two questions to herself.

"It's a surprise."

"Logan!"

He rolled his eyes at her accusatory tone. "Rory!" He mocked her.

"I hate surprises." She told him in the most serious tone she could muster.

"You love surprises." Logan corrected.

"I used to." Rory conceded. "Then I got pregnant and realized that sometimes surprises just aren't all they're cracked up to be."

Logan rolled his eyes again at her comment. "Nice try Ace. If you weren't still big on surprises you never would have come to California to find me and tell me about the baby face-to-face. You'd have written, or called. Or sent a smoke signal or something."

"Or a courier pigeon?" She asked with a smirk, as they both recalled a conversation that they'd shared early on in their 'official relationship'.

"Absolutely."

"Logan." She said again but this time she said it in a whiny voice.

"We're almost there Ace, just hang in there." He told her reassuringly.

"Where are we just about?" She said sweetly and gave him the 'Bambi eyes'.

He smirked at her expression and leaned over to give her a light kiss on the forehead. "Ace?" he murmured against her skin.

"Yes?" She responded immediately. He sat back in his seat and looked out the window.

"Shut up." He told her with a chuckle. He heard her gasp but didn't turn back to look at her face, the eyes would kill him after all, and finally heard her sigh and shift in the seat to look out her own window and to wait, impatiently, for them to get where they were going.

* * *

"Logan..." Rory sighed in amazement as she looked around the clearing that he'd brought her to. The same clearing he'd taken her to three years before for the LDB event and 'The Jump' as she often thought of the scaffolding stunt. The clearing was filled with things that had been important to them and their relationship.

The scaffolding had been put up and the Gong was there. A coffee cart, that she was sure was actually from Yale, was there. Henry, Logan's suit of armor, and some crutches leaning against it. There was a long table, one that looked suspiciously like the table in his parents house. All over the top of the table were framed photos - and while she couldn't see all of them she'd be willing to bet that every picture was of the two of them. Her Birkin bag was there too, with a graduation cap leaning on it. And beside them, placed right at the center of the table and surrounded by a ring of coffee mugs, was her rocket. Their Rocket. She walked around looking at everything. She took the time to look at every picture, there were 43, and she was right - every one was of them. Finally she stood in front of the rocket and turned to look at Logan.

Logan watched her take it all in. And he looked around too, pleased that everything looked just like he'd hoped it would. He'd have to remember to thank Lorelai and Colin and Finn. And he waited until she turned to him.

They stood a few feet apart and looked at each other. Logan had his hands in the pockets of his jacket and a smirk on his face. He didn't have a hat on but had wrapped a scarf around his neck to ward off the cold. Rory's hands were inside a pair of mitts Logan had handed to her before they got out of the SUV, along with a tuque and a scarf. The tip of her nose and her cheeks were pink from the cold.

"Logan?" She said questioningly. Her voice wavered with emotion.

Logan looked around the clearing again slowly before turning back to her. "I sort of screwed things up at your graduation party when I asked you the way I did. That was the first mistake. I'm not going to stand here and name all of them off for you cause we both know what they were and we've talked about all of that already. But it did occur to me, eventually, that asking you to marry me in a room full of your grandparents friends and colleagues wasn't the way to do it." He took a few steps towards her until the stood facing each other with only a foot of space between them.

"I should have known better. That wasn't you, or us. This is." He gestured with his head. "This stuff is everything from start to finish, from the moment I started to fall for you, to the moment I walked away. The good, the bad. All of it. When I look around here and I see all of this stuff, it reinforces what I already knew."

He pulled his hands from his pocket and took hold of her hands. "I love you, Rory. Walking away didn't change that. Six months without you couldn't change that. I want everything with you that I'd never dared to dream before I met you. I want love and marriage. A true partnership with someone. Children that we love and raise together, and who love us in return. I want a life with you. The life. I've said it before and I'm going to keep saying it until you tell me what I want to hear. Marry me. Marry me on New Years Eve and we'll start a New Year and our new lives at the same time. I need you. And what's more, and just as important, I want you. I want everything with you. So what do you think Ace? Will you marry me?"

Sometime during his speech Rory had started crying. Not sobbing, not sadly, but tears were streaming down her face. She pulled her hands out of Logan's grasp and wrapped her arms around his waist, burying her face in the folds of coat and scarf at his neck. Logan wrapped his arms around her in return and bent his head to hers. In her quiet crying, he heard the word he wanted to hear, the one he'd been waiting 6 months to hear come from her lips.

"Yes. Yes." And finally she pulled back and the smile on her face was radiant as she looked him in the eyes and said one more time. "Absolutely, _yes_!"

* * *

Rory was still on cloud nine, they both were, when they arrived at the hotel where the LDB had decided to host their holiday party and she and Logan checked into their room. And of course when they got into the room Logan had another surprise in store for her - when she looked in the long white box on the big bed, there were two beautiful dresses, both of them in classic and flattering maternity styles, shoes that matched each and a blue Tiffany's box that, she soon found, held a gorgeous necklace and earring set that matched both of the dresses and went well with her ring. As she took it all in, she shook her head in amazement. She still couldn't figure out how he did it, and how he did it so well all of the time... She shook off the awe and since she knew now, because Logan had finally told her the schedule, that she didn't have a lot of time to get ready, she got her butt in gear and made herself as beautiful as she could.

While Rory got ready, Logan found the guys and thanked them for all their help setting up the clearing and told them, with a grin, that she'd finally said yes. Colin and Finn both congratulated him and the three of them had a drink together, then went to their seperate rooms to get dressed for the evening. An hour later Logan and Rory rode the elevator down to the third floor and entered the ballroom for the event. As they entered everyone present, led by Colin and Finn, clapped and whistled, hooted and made merry in congratulations of Logan and Rory's engagement which they happily announced to their friends. They spent the rest of the evening talking with friends, remembering past parties, discussing wedding ideas and baby names and generally just enjoying the night with their friends. _And really, what more could they ask for?_

* * *

My True Love,

Only you could take what was the biggest, most comprehensive, most complicated, set of mistakes a pair of people could make, turn them around and make them into something good. And I love you for it. But regardless of the fact that we've been able to turn things around, we are still going to have to work hard to make things work out for us again. It's not just going to happen.

So here's the deal: I'll do whatever it takes, if you will. I only want you. Always.

What do you say?

Yours.


	7. Say When

So after a very long hiatus I'm updating some stories. _Bridging the Gap_ included! Yay!

I want to say thank you to **everyone** who has read and reviewed and sent me PM requests to update this story. I'm so happy that there are still people reading and interested in BtG and all my other stories. So when I needed a break from NaNoWriMo I turned to my fanfics. And we all benefit!

Hope you enjoy this newest chapter and I hope to hear what you've got to say!

_I don't own Gilmore Girls, or anything related to the show. Except this story and the other ones that I've come up with on my own.

* * *

_

_

* * *

_

**Say When**

She stared at the door knowing that it couldn't _really_ hurt her, knowing that it wouldn't change anything, and still she was terrified of what was going to happen when that door actually opened. Or, maybe not what would happen when it opened exactly, more what would happen when she went through it. _Wide open doors, indeed. _She internally smirked - outwardly her expression remained the same, frozen in a state of minor terror. _I think, maybe, I like them a bit better when they're closed..._

"I think I'm going to hyperventilate."

"You are not going to hyperventilate." Lorelai told her while she rubbed her hands together, with an expression on her face that seemed pretty damn akin to glee, and chuckling under her breath.

Rory gaped at her mother. "Are you-" she stumbled over her words in shock. "Are you laughing at me?"

"Of course not." Lorelai answered and gamely tried to keep a straight face.

"You are! I can not believe you. You're actually enjoying this aren't you?" She demanded, outrage on her face and in her tone. At the words though her mother lost all control she'd apparently had and did start laughing and her father laughed at her too.

"Oh kid, you've just got to see the irony in this whole situation." Christopher tried to explain. Logan snorted and Luke scoffed in the background. "It's not often that your mother and I have ever entered this house and not been the ones who were about to face the wrath of Emily Gilmore."

Now it was Rory's turn to snort. And scoff. And grin with glee. "Really?" She said in a sickly sweet tone that made both Lorelai and Christopher stop and think. "And knowing Emily Gilmore, as you do after all these years, how do you think she's going to respond? Or should I say, who do you think she's going to blame - after she's done yelling at me and Logan of course?

Silence. Ten seconds of it. Thirty.

"God, now I think I'm going to hyperventilate." Lorelai muttered loudly.

And suddenly, as if the Earth had started spinning in the right direction again, the door and the doorbell in front of her stopped seeming so terrifying and she reached out and pressed the button.

"Damn it. _My mother_ is in there too." Christopher added and Rory, in her sudden glee, pressed the button again.

"It's not quite so funny now... Is it?" She asked them as the door swung open and a maid let them in.

* * *

"This is not going to go well." Lorelai told Luke under her breath as the two of them followed Chris and Gigi into the parlor. Beyond the father-daughter duo, she could see her mother sitting with Francine Hayden and chatting as if it hadn't been years since they'd spent any time together. As if the last time the woman had been in the house she hadn't spent the majority of the visit badmouthing Lorelai and blaming Rory for all of Chris's failings. "So, _so_ not well."

"No kidding." Luke responded softly.

"You're finally here." Richard said joyfully from the side of the room where he was fixing himself a drink. "Happy Thanksgiving dear."

Lorelai detoured to her father, and the bar, and gave him a brief hug. "Happy Thanksgiving, Dad."

"You look lovely." Richard told her honestly as he squeezed her back and then he turned to Luke and they exchanged handshakes. "Luke. How have things been going with the diner? And April. How is April?"

"Things have been really good, Richard." Luke responded. "And April is doing great. We talked to her this morning, since she's spending this holiday with her mom in New Mexico, and she was telling Lorelai and I all about some project that she and a couple classmates are working on. I only understood every third word but it sounded like something that would be right up your alley." In the months since he and Lorelai had gotten back together he'd tried harder to get along with, and be friendly with, the Elder Gilmore's. Surprisingly, in the six months since Rory's graduation the four of them had managed to get along quite nicely. They didn't necessarily have a lot in common with each other - Luke and the Elder Gilmore's that is - and they didn't always agree on things, but one thing that they did all hold in common was their love for Lorelai. Each of them wanted her to be happy and Richard and Emily had finally conceded that if Luke was what made her truly happy, then Luke was the man for her.

"I'll have to corner the two of you later and you can tell me about it." Richard told him. "Drinks, either of you?"

"A Martini please, Dad."

"Have you got any Wild Turkey Richard?" Luke asked. For the last several months he'd been coming to Friday Night Dinner with Lorelai, since Rory wasn't around, so Lorelai had insisted that he find something to drink that wasn't "common-man's beer" to save them from the inevitable comments from Emily. He still hadn't settled on any one brand but he'd found a couple that he liked and he thought that Lorelai and Rory would get a kick out of him drinking Wild Turkey on Thanksgiving.

Sure enough, he was right. The words were barely out of his mouth and Lorelai started sniggering. Richard gave her an arch look and that only caused her to burst out in laughter. Of course that drew the other's attention and Emily, being Emily, had to demand to know what exactly was so funny.

"It's nothing Emily." Richard told her while he handed Lorelai her drink and started looking through the bar stock to see if they actually did have what Luke requested. "Just Lorelai's warped sense of humor once again."

"What about Mom's warped sense of humor?" Rory asked from the door way and they all turned toward the sound of her voice. She and Logan stood together, and had for a couple of minutes just watching her family. Logan had his arm around Rory's shoulder and she had her arm (her left arm, and left hand, to be exact) behind his back.

"Rory! And Logan!" Emily exclaimed, her surprise at Logan's appearance with her granddaughter temporarily blinding her to the "complete picture." She rose from her seat and was half way across the room to greet them before she finally took in the physical changes of Rory's body and when she comprehended the meaning of those changes her steps faltered and then stopped more than six feet away from the couple.

Richard finished pouring Luke's drink and handed it to him before he too started towards Rory and Logan. He too was surprised by Logan's appearance but once he saw Rory, and the obvious fact that she was pregnant, he understood. Or at least he believed he did. Despite his shock that his precious granddaughter had become pregnant before marriage, and so soon after turning down a proposal for said marriage, he still went directly to her and pulled her into a fierce hug and gave her a kiss on the cheek.

"Lorelai Leigh Gilmore." He said to her in a solemn tone while still holding her by the arms. "I think you've got some explaining to do."

Rory blushed and bit at her bottom lip. "I'm sorry Grandpa."

"Do you have something to be sorry for?" He asked her and glanced at Logan briefly before looking back to her. She too glanced at Logan for a long minute, then looked past his shoulder at Emily and the rest of the family before returning her attention to him and looking him directly in the eyes. In her gaze he saw her determination, her strength, and her love for her family.

"I don't think so Grandpa but I know that I've disappointed you and Grandma and for that I am sorry." She explained.

Surprisingly pleased with the response, he smiled slightly at her and said softly. "We'll see."

"Young man." He said in a normal tone again and released her to turn toward Logan, extending his hand to shake the 'young man's.' "I'm surprised to see you here but I can't say that I'm not happy to see that you and Rory have worked things out between you two."

Logan shook Richards hand, grateful for his reaction to the pregnancy, and smiled widely. "Not nearly as happy as we are Richard. I hope you don't mind me joining you for Thanksgiving."

"Oh, I think we can find room for you at the table. Emily?" He turned to her and the expression on her face made his heart ache for her.

"What?" She asked him, blinking, and then remembering where she was, who she was with, and realizing what he'd asked her she responded. "Of course Logan, I've told you before, you're always welcome at our table."

Finally she continued forward and approached Rory. The two woman, separated by a full generation, stared at one another with a similar expression of trepidation on their faces. Then, finally, Emily overcame her hesitation and wrapped her arms around her only granddaughter. Immediately Rory's arms went around Emily and it was in that moment that Richard saw the ring on Rory's finger and gave Logan a look of approval and a pat on the shoulder in congratulations.

"Can I get you something to drink Logan?"

* * *

"Well that's not how I envisioned that scene." Lorelai said, to no one in particular, on the other side of the room.

"Me neither." Christopher agreed.

Francine chuckled at them from her seat. "What did you expect? Fireworks? Some yelling? Perhaps some exclamations of doom and ultimatums to 'maintain the family's reputation or else?'" The three adults near her each looked at her with mixed expressions of confusion and disappointment.

It was Christopher who finally responded to her comments. "Well... Yeah."

Francine Hayden shook her head and looked back across the room at her eldest granddaughter, a young woman who she really didn't know at all, the handsome young man at her side and Emily, who was one of her oldest friends and someone who due to circumstances and stubbornness she had been estranged from for nearly 23 years. From her seat she watched as Richard moved back to the bar and poured a drink for Logan and picking up his own previously abandoned drink, returned to the grouping at the door. She found herself both amused and saddened as she watched Emily scold the young couple, exclaim in happiness as she inspected the ring on Rory's left hand and then embrace them both in turn as she congratulated them. Then she turned her attention back to her own son and the woman whom he'd loved.

She could still see that Lorelai and Christopher loved each other but now, 23 years too late, she could see that that love was more about a shared bond and a common circumstance than it was about true passion and that 'everlasting' kind of love she'd wanted to believe it was years ago. Of course, 23 years ago, her insistence that the two of them marry and raise their daughter together wasn't based on the love that they shared but was more about how 'the scandal' affected her and Straub.

It embarrassed her now when she thought back to how they'd treated Lorelai when she'd been pregnant and even when they'd had dinner with her, Rory, Richard and Emily, seven years ago. Both she and Straub had said horrible, hateful things to Lorelai, and about Rory, that she knew she'd never be able to take back. In hindsight she knew that Christopher's actions and choices were his own, and his failings or successes couldn't be placed on anyone's shoulders but his. She knew that they'd both been unimaginably hurt and she knew, though it hurt her to admit it, that they'd probably never forgive her. But knowing all that she did now, she could change and hopefully through her actions Lorelai and Rory, and even Christopher to a certain degree, would see that she was sorry about all of it.

"Rory and her young man aren't you and Lorelai, dear." Francine told him.

"No, no they're not." Christopher agreed.

"And the rest of us aren't exactly the same people we were two and a half decades ago either." She explained further.

Christopher and Luke both nodded in agreement and Lorelai furrowed her brow and looked across the room at her parents, and then at Christopher and Luke. "No I guess none of us are."

* * *

There were already more then three dozen people milling around in Richard and Emily Gilmore's main parlor when the Huntzberger's arrived. Logan noticed them almost immediately. From a lifetime of practicing avoidance of those specific individuals, he didn't immediately act upon his observations. He, of course, knew better than to give them enough time to realize that he was already there and have them seek him out - that only led to lectures on showing proper respect to his parents and his grandfather, but he did pretend for a few minutes that he hadn't noticed them. It was only when he saw his mother approaching Emily and Francine that he decided that it was time for him to greet her and so he slid away from the group he'd been talking with and followed in his mother and father's wake through the crowd.

"Good evening Emily." Shira said with false cheer and society charm in her voice. "A wonderful gathering. I do hope your Thanksgiving was a good one."

"It was very nice, actually, the evening was full of surprises but they were all wonderful ones." Emily told her. "I'm glad you were able to make it tonight. Shira, Mitchum, I don't know if you've met my dear friend here, Francine Hayden."

"I don't think we've had that pleasure yet. Though I do believe that I met your husband several years ago at a benefit in Washington. I was sorry when I heard that he'd passed." Mitchum said as he shook Francine's hand and then turned back to Emily. "Thank you for the invitation Emily, I would hate for things to be awkward between our families after everything that happened between the children."

"Of course, that would be distressing." Emily replied and then looked just beyond Mitchum and Shira and smiled. "Oh, Logan, there you are, I was just beginning to wonder if your parents knew that you were here."

Both Mitchum and Shira turned to find that their only son was indeed standing behind them. Logan had a smile on his face, and he appeared quite relaxed as he kissed his mother's cheek and shook his father's hand. Neither of his parents knew what to say, neither of them had been aware that Logan was at the party, nor that he was in the state. They hadn't expected to see him until the following day, and truth be told, they had only attended the Gilmore's party because not to would have caused some talk among their friends and mutual acquaintances.

"I just happened to notice them Emily and figured I'd come over and say hello." Logan answered.

"Logan, dear, where has Rory run off to? She mentioned going to get a drink earlier and I haven't seen her since." Francine commented.

Logan glanced around the room, pretending to be looking for her though he actually knew exactly where she was, and after making eye contact with her, and smirking, turned back to his parents and her grandmother's. "It looks like she and Lorelai are over by the refreshment table with Paris still. And considering that she hasn't seen Rory in more than six months I'm sure that Paris has plenty to say."

"Oh, I'm sure she does." Emily agreed and she too found Rory and Lorelai in the crowd. "But really, she'll have time to see Rory and talk with her over the next couple of weeks, she shouldn't be taking up so much of Rory's attention. Or Lorelai's for that matter."

"I think Rory missed Paris just as much as Paris missed her. They did live together for most of their time in college." Logan reminded her. He knew how much Rory missed having Paris around, she'd mentioned it more than once when Emily had told her that Paris was going to be there that evening.

"I know, I know. Maybe I'll just go over there and chat with them and then move her along. She might be interested in talking with Arnold Winston-Fields." Emily muttered and then excused herself from the group and headed in the direction of the refreshment tables.

"Francine, you might be able to snag Ace for yourself if you head over there. I know you were enjoying chatting earlier." Logan said, coloring his tone with suggestion, and thankfully Francine got the message swiftly and made her excuses to leave as well.

"Well Logan, I didn't realize you were going to be here tonight." Shira said after Francine had left and only the three of them were left standing together. "I also didn't realize that you and Rory were still in touch, after the way she rejected you earlier this year."

"Things didn't work out exactly as we'd intended in June, that's true, but I wouldn't say that Rory rejected me. She just wasn't ready at the time to get engaged or to get married." Logan told both his parents in a calm, patient tone.

"You proposed, Logan, and the silly girl said no. That's a rejection." Mitchum said bluntly. "And then she went to work on the campaign trail for Obama. You are aware of that are you not?"

"Of course I'm aware of that." Logan responded already starting to lose his patience with his parents. "Rory and I have been in contact with each other the entire time. Like I said, she just wasn't ready, at that time, so it wasn't a rejection."

Shira narrowed her gaze. "Does that mean that she's since changed her mind?"

"What do you think Shira?" Mitchum replied impatiently. "He's here, so obviously the two of them have gotten back together. So what, did she realize that being a traveling correspondent wasn't all she'd thought and decided to take you up on your proposal?"

Logan shook his head with amazement and just stared at his parents. "You two never know when to stop and give up do you? You didn't get the hint when we didn't break up after you crushed her spirit during her internship. You still didn't manage to understand anything about her, or us, when we survived 8 months of separation while I was in London. Or when she stayed at the hospital with me day and night after my accident in Costa Rica, despite that fact that she was still angry with me. You've had over three years to get to know Rory Gilmore and all you've ever bothered to find out was that she wanted to work for a living and that she wants people to genuinely like her."

"I don't know what that says about you, or what it says about me for that matter, but I can't imagine that it would be good. But for your information, yes she's since changed her mind about the proposal. It had nothing to do with the job, dad, and if things were different than they are she would continue working on the campaign right to the end. But they're not, different that is, and she's finished on the campaign. She's going to be staying here for the next month with her mother and father and her grandparents and then after the New Year, after our wedding, she'll be joining me in San Fransisco. She's going to continue to work for Hugo as much as she can and later on she might apply at a paper out there..."

"What do you mean 'after our wedding'?" Shira hissed.

"What do you mean 'continue to work as much as she can'?" Mitchum asked, both of them interrupting Logan's Gilmore worthy rant.

"I think the 'after our wedding' part is pretty much self explanatory," Rory answered from behind Mitchum and Shira and they shifted to turn and look at her. Francine Hayden stood at her side and a young blond girl danced around them. "As for the other, Mitchum, I'll continue to work as much as I can but my priority after February first will be raising mine and Logan's child."

"Yours and Logan's child?" Shira whispered in shock, the look on her face darkening each moment in rage. Then louder... "Yours and Logan's child? If you weren't together for more than six months, how on earth could we possibly believe that child is Logan's?" She said with a disgusted gesture toward Rory's distended abdomen.

In an instinctively protective gesture, Rory laid her hands on her stomach. "You could take my word for it, knowing that Logan has and that Logan also knows that I would never lie to him."

"Oh please!" Shira hissed at her. "You're just like every other girl who ever found a way to 'bag' a rich husband. Your kind doesn't know how to-"

"Excuse me?" Rory interrupted in a hushed voice but the lethal tone still managed to be discernible. "My kind? Oh I think you've got me confused with someone else Shira, because 'my kind' as you put it is far more blue-blooded than you could ever hope to be. I have never been interested in Logan for his money, or because of his money, because to be quite honest Shira I've got more than enough at my disposal as it is. All I have to do is ask for it."

Mitchum laid a hand on Shira's arm, trying to restrain her from saying anything further or doing anything that would embarrass them all, but she only shook off his hold and moved a step closer to Rory. "You might be a Gilmore and they might have money, but they have nothing to compare with the Huntzberger estate and well you know it. You aren't comfortable with it, and because your slut of a mother ran off with you when you were young, you weren't raised in it, and so you'll never be comfortable with it."

"Another version of the 'you don't know what it takes to be a Huntzberger wife' lecture, I take it?" Rory said in a deceptively calm voice. One look at her eyes and the fire in them was all you needed to see to know that she was not calm.

"That lady say a bad word Rory, someone should tell her mommy or daddy on her." The little blond child whispered to Rory while tugging on the hem of her dress.

"She did, didn't she babe. You'd think that in such 'polite society' she'd know that kind of language isn't appropriate." Rory responded to the child while she took the girls little hand in her own, then looked back at Shira. "You see, my mother might not have raised me in society yet she still managed to teach me my manners."

"Daddy and Gramma told me my manners."

"They taught you, hun, not told." Rory corrected automatically. "But maybe you should go find daddy, or even-"

"Yes, you should go find your father dear." Francine instructed her granddaughter. "You tell him that Rory and I sent you over to him. And tell him that I'd like to see him, please."

"Okay Gramma." Gigi answered and then turned and skipped away. Both Rory and Francine watched her go and once she was out of earshot Francine turned back to the elder Huntzberger duo.

"Now I am only going to say this once Shira because frankly I find this entire situation unacceptable and because I refuse to cause a scene at Richard and Emily's party." Francine said in a tone that dared anyone to naysay her. "I have never known Rory to be anything but a completely honest individual. Nor have I ever known her mother to be anything but an honorable and kind individual. Her decisions may not have been ones that were widely accepted by her family or society in general but they were hers to make and live with, and she did. It is not your, nor my, place to judge whether her choice to take Rory away from Hartford and raise her outside of our society was a good one or a bad one, it is just the way things are."

"Furthermore, Rory doesn't need to be a Stepford wife in order to be suitable for your family. As long as she's willing to love and honor your son for as long as they are married, that is all that's important. That is not the way it used to be done but even in my day there were women who were working outside of the home. Rory has proven, through her work for the DAR a couple of years ago, that she is more than capable of organizing a society event that even the Huntzberger's could be proud of and that she's more than comfortable associating with members of society, both the older generations and her own. To my understanding Mitchum and Shira, the only members of society who haven't fallen in love with this girl are you two and Elias. And I'd be willing to bet good money that the only reason Elias has a problem with Rory is because her parents didn't marry when she was born, since as I recall Lillith worked at his paper here in Hartford until Mitchum was born. It was only at that point that she quit working and focused on raising Mitchum and later his two sisters."

"Now before you say anything else that I'm sure you'll regret later, I suggest you take a step back and think things through. Logan and Rory are both adults. And just like Lorelai, their choices are their own - to make and to live with. All that you can do, or should, is be happy for them. Or not. But whether you think she's acceptable, or whether you think she should be happy to be nothing more than a society wife, doesn't matter because in the end, the only opinions that do matter are Logan's and Rory's. And quite obviously it's their opinion that they will get married, that they'll have a happy life and be marvelously in love with each other and that together they will raise their child, and any others that come later on, and that they will do it thier way. However that is." Francine's eyes flashed like steel as she spoke but her voice stayed at a sedate, quiet level. As she finished her diatribe Rory slipped her hand into her grandmother's and squeezed.

At the touch, Francine glanced at Rory, who said quietly. "Thank you." And in response she only smiled. Since dinner the previous night, she and Rory had spent quite a bit of time talking and Rory, being who she is, had forgiven Francine for the past, saying - "What's done is done and it can not be changed. But the future has many possibilities and I'd love to share them with you." Francine wasn't sure where Rory had got her depth of compassion from but she knew that she'd be forever grateful for it.

Shira and Mitchum both seemed to be at a loss. Neither could understand why Francine Hayden would be defending Rory, or Logan, or Lorelai for that matter, and neither did they really care, but to have her throw so much in their face, blatantly critisizing them for their treatment of the couple only made them each angry.

"I'm sorry," Shira started in a low tone. "But I don't think you've got any place in this discussion, nor do you have any right to critisize us. So, lady, I think you should just leave and mind your own business."

"Mother..." Logan started to say but Mitchum cut him off.

"I have to agree with my wife, in this instance, Mrs. Hayden. I know that your late husband's standing in society offers you a certain degree of lasitude but you really don't have anything to do with this particular family argument and therefore it really would be best if perhaps Logan, Rory, Shira and I excused ourselves and went to discuss this privately." Mitchum told her in his best diplomatic tone.

"Oh, well, if you're going to go discuss things privately I'll just go round up the rest of your families." Francine agreed pleasantly. "The study?" She suggested to Rory, who nodded in response. "Wonderful." Francine said and then whisked away into the crowd, searching out the rest of the family.

* * *

"What exactly is this all about?" Elias Huntzberger muttered to Francine. "I thought Emily disapproved of people hiding away during these insipid parties."

The pair walked through the door of Richard's study to find Mitchum, Shira, Logan, Rory, Richard and Emily already there waiting. Elias was surprised to see his grandson. He was even more surprised to see his grandson with Rory Gilmore since the last he'd heard the couple wasn't together any more. Beyond his surprise at Logan's appearance, was his shock at Rory's but as he looked at the girl he saw the glint of a diamond on her finger and noticed the way that Logan was playing with her hair at the nape of her neck. He saw the affection in her eyes as she whispered to his grandson and he knew that he couldn't stand in their way. Whatever it was that had stirred Mitchum and Shira up, and he assumed it was the combination of the pregnancy and the diamond, he would stand beside his grandson because he could see what Mitchum couldn't. He could see in Logan and Rory what he'd had with his own wife.

"Never mind." He muttered to Francine and broke away from her to pour himself a drink from the tray near the desk.

"Elias." Richard acknowledged him with a nod.

Elias nodded back. "Richard." Then he turned to Emily and said in an even, succinct tone. "They are all insipid parties. It's no reflection of you as a hostess."

Emily smirked and stood to kiss his cheek. "You wouldn't be the first to say so in any case, Elias."

"Now what is this all about?" He asked the room at large.

"I would think that would be rather obvious, Dad. The girl found herself pregnant and has convinced Logan that it's his, despite the fact that they haven't seen each other in months, and now they're getting married. By the New Year, apparently." Mitchum said.

"I really think we should wait for Lorelai and -" Emily started to say but cut off as Christopher and Lorelai rushed into the room and Lorelai closed the door behind them.

"We're here. Sorry it took so long, I had to find someone to watch Gigi and Luke was cornered by Paris and Doyle... She should be okay with Finn and Robert, shouldn't she Logan?" Christopher explained to the group and asked the latter. The question shocked Logan, who'd just taken a drink of his Scotch and he started to cough, chocking on the drink.

"I told you we should have left her with my Aunt. Sure you'd never get the smell of her cologne out of Gigi's clothes, or hair, or from her nose for that matter, but at least we'd know that the kid would still be alive when we get back out there." Lorelai told him in mocking tones.

Rory was smiling at her parents and barely holding her laughter in when she answered her father's question. "Gigi will be fine Dad. Finn worships women of all ages."

"That's not exactly the type of assurance I would prefer but I suppose it'll have do." Christopher acknowledged with a grimace.

"Sorry." Logan said with a final cough, then added. "Finn's actually really good with kids. They appeal to his maturity level. She'll be perfectly fine."

"Who are you?" Shira asked, obviously not catching Rory's use of the term 'dad'.

Christopher allowed a slow, sharp, smile to spread across his lips as he looked both Shira and Mitchum in the eyes before answering. "Christopher Hayden." He said as introduction. "Rory's father."

Shira breath caught as even her grasping, greedy mind put 2 and two together. Mitchum glanced from Christopher to Francine, who'd taken a seat next to Rory on the settee and was watching him with a smile identical to her son's.

"My son." She clarified for Mitchum. "Which makes me Rory's grandmother. And thus, very much a part of this 'particular family argument'."

* * *

My Only Love,

What do I say? Seriously?

I say I love you. I say yes. I say... Say when.

Waiting and wanting.

Yours.

* * *

**_Hope you enjoyed this chapter of _Bridging the Gap_, let me know what you think!_**


	8. Your Lover

To everyone who read and reviewed the last chapter of '_Bridging the Gap_' - Thank you. After such a long break I wasn't sure whether there would be anyone who was still around waiting to see more of 'my' Rory and Logan. I'm glad that there is and I'm happy that you're still waiting to see what I have them doing next.

For everyone who just started reading this story when it popped back to the top of the updated stories - Welcome... And Enjoy. I hope that you'll love the world of Rory and Logan, that I've created, as much as I do.

This chapter is shorter than the last couple and the main reason for that is because it's basically the end of the story. This part of the story, anyways. There will be an epilogue that will be added soon to wrap it up and maybe, _maybe_, I'll work on a sequel to this story that's sometime in the future. Before I do that though, I will be finishing up _An Ending or a New Beginning_ (since there are only a couple more chapters left to wrap up that story) and will be continuing _Best is Yet to Come_ (which like the other stories, has been sitting too long unfinished).

_[Disclaimer: I don't own anything beyond my car, my house and my clothes. I've only borrowed the Gilmore Girls and their world.]_

**So without much further ado, the next chapter of _Bridging the Gap_! I hope you enjoy.**

**

* * *

Your Lover**

They say that time flies when you're having fun. And while that is certainly true, it could also be said that time flies when you have a great need for more of it. With all of the wedding planning, going through packed boxes and shipping them to California, wedding shopping, baby shopping and Christmas shopping, the following month sped by in, what seemed, the blink of an eye. Society in general had accepted that Logan and Rory were engaged, most believing that they had been all along, and very few were surprised by the fact that they were having a small wedding. And though there had been some shock among Hartford Society concerning Rory's pregnancy, again, very few people were overly surprised and no one was scandalized. As Francine had pointed out after all, all of society had fallen in love with Rory and therefore, by extension, they loved Logan too and the couple could do no wrong.

Logan's parents continued to be the only people who'd made any comment concerning their doubts about the couples relationship and the paternity of the baby. For the most part Logan and Rory ignored them. Rory, being who she is, had tried to included Shira in the wedding planning and she'd tried to do what she could to improve her relationship with Mitchum. She really had. Her conversation with Mitchum had only made it to the 1m:30s mark and Shira's inclusion lasted less then one afternoon in early December. After that she'd finally come to the conclusion that she _really_ wasn't going to worry about what they thought of her.

But Mitchum and Shira continued to express doubts and concerns about Rory's suitability for the 'position' as Logan's wife. At a lunch several days before Christmas, the first day that Logan was back in Hartford for the holidays, Rory finally let loose what she thought of their opinion of her and stated empatically that "if the necessary qualities of being a Huntzberger wife required her to be a cold, heartless scavenger then they were right, she wasn't suitable." And then she further shocked the elder couple by adding that she was "seriously debating whether Logan should be the one to change his name because then she wouldn't have to worry herself with what _some_ _people_ thought she should be as a wife." She finished off her diabtribe by flashing the entire table a beautific smile and saying that when she'd suggested as much to Logan he'd gone out of his way to show her that regardless of what anyone else thought, _he_ thought that she was the perfect person to be his wife and told them "fortunately his opinion is really the only one that matters to me."

Christmas became a major event. While all of the families had agreed to combine their holiday celebrations (Christmas dinner and all that) and while they all - the Gilmore's, Hayden's and Huntzberger's - had gathered together at the Gilmore's house in Hartford, it could be said that not all of those gathered were celebrating. Elias had privately met with Rory in the weeks since Thanksgiving to get to know the girl who was marrying his grandson and, as expected of nearly everyone who met her, he quickly came to understand Logan's attraction for the youngest Lorelai. He'd then taken things one step further and informed them all (all the Huntzberger's) that as the family patriarch he fully supported Logan and Rory's relationship and professed his heartfelt wishes that they be very happy with one another.

So to say that there was a great deal of tension amongst them on Christmas was unsurprising. What was surprising was that they managed to make it through the day in good spirits and to do it without any arguements or disagreements among them. It wasn't, perhaps, so much luck that got them through the day as it was a reaction to something Logan said during his toast at the families' meal.

He wished everyone a very Merry Christmas and then after taking a drink of his wine continued. "A year ago Rory and I were in London for Christmas. It was beautiful and I believe that we both thoroughly enjoyed having the time to ourselves and to be alone with one another, but even then we talked about how nice it would be for us to be able to spend the holidays not only with each other but with all of you too. I couldn't imagine how we'd ever be able to manage it and I told her so. But Rory, being Rory, promised me that one day we would make it happen. She told me that the holidays were meant for bringing family together, for mending hurts that existed between them and for showing you just how important your family is. I'd thought I understood what she meant but I didn't, not then, and maybe I don't fully understand even now. But I think, after all the events of this past year, that someday I will understand. I already know that I'll be forever grateful to her for showing me just how wonderful the holidays can be, when you spend them with the people you love, and who love you too."

His words seemed to make them all think, to make them consider whether there was any truth to them. The mood over the rest of the day seemed to suggest that there was. Whether they really made a difference or whether the fight was just put on pause was anyone's guess, but for that day at least they all got a little peace, perhaps a bit of perspective and maybe, just maybe, some acceptance. Later that night Logan told Rory that he really did hope his parents would learn to accept his choices, and hers. He didn't want to hope, and he knew he would more than likely end up disappointed, but seeing his Grandfather's change of heart had forced him to face that desire. Elias's support and understanding had made him see a glimpse of what he was missing with his own father and despite the fact that he knew it shouldn't matter, and knew that nothing was likely to change, it hurt.

And then suddenly it was New Year's Eve. Rory spent the day with her mother and grandmothers. All of her close friends stopped by to see her at one point or another during the day - including Colin and Finn. Though both their families were adament that Logan and Rory not see eachother until they faced one another at the altar, they did frequently text eachother throughout the day. They also sent each other little gifts, mementos mostly, just to remind the other why they were doing what they were. Why they wanted to. Why, no matter the stress or the aggravation, it was worth it.

Logan stood near the altar, waiting for Rory to join him, with Colin and Finn standing up for him. Together the three of them watched as first Paris, and then Lane came down the aisle and took their spots opposite of the groomsman. Then everyone stood and looked to the back of the church as the music changed and Rory started down the aisle on her father's arm. She was talking to her father quietly until they made it half of the way up the church and then she turned her head slightly and met Logan's eyes. And he was mesmerized.

She was gorgeous, in a gown of white velvet with silver accents. Her hair was up and was seeded with pearls. More pearls were on her ears and around her neck - it wasn't a traditional, heavy strand of pearls though. The necklace was made of single, spaced pearls strung together with twisted filgrees of white gold, the earrings were a matching pair of dropped pearls set in white gold with several small diamond accents. All in all, she looked like a mideval princess. The bridesmaids wore ice blue and silver dresses. The groomsman wore ice blue vests over white shirts and a silver tie with a black suit. Logan differed in that his vest was silver and his tie was ice blue.

The ceremony itself was held at a gorgeous little church in New Haven and had 75 people at it, so considering what Emily, Francine and Shira had initially envisioned for the wedding it was quite small. After the ceremony, the wedding party headed to the Yale campus to take advantage of the afternoon sunlight for some of the wedding pictures. Then they all moved on to the reception.

Because they were getting married on New Years Eve, Logan and Rory decided that they would have their reception at the same club where Richard and Emily had renewed their vows, the same place where Rory and Logan's relationship came in to being, and combine the reception with a New Years Eve party for all their friends and family. So while the ceremony was a relatively small affair, the crowd of nearly 400 people made the reception spectacularly large - and had required the combined influence of the Huntzberger, Hayden and Gilmore names to get them all the space that they'd need.

But it was amazing. All of it. No one made any brash objections to the marriage when prompted ("if there is anyone here who knows a reason why these two people should not be joined in matrimony...") and the couple wrote some very simple vows to one another in adjunct with the traditional wedding vows. In those few moments when they faced each other and held each other's hands, it was as if everyone in the church held their breath.

_"Logan. You've been so many things to me already - my companion, my colleague, my co-conspirator, my savior and my best friend. You put all those things together and you really do have something that is far more than just the sum of it's parts. Most importantly you have something solid, something real. This marriage is not always going to be easy, I know, but someone very wise told me recently that if life and love wasn't hard, it wouldn't be worth it. So I look forward to the good days and I'll prepare as best as I can for the bad ones. We'll have fun and find thrills, and we'll do stupid things once in a while. Just to be different. And we'll never regret a single moment. I love you Logan, always."_

_"From the first moment, I knew that you were special. No matter how much I wanted to think that you were just like everyone else, you were too unique to fit the mold. Somehow you found your way into my heart and forced me make a choice. It hasn't always been easy Ace, and I can promise that the road isn't always going to be smooth sailing. With you standing at my side though, I know that we can get through anything. I told you once that 'people can live a hundred years without really living for a minute.' Well I love you Rory, and every moment that I do, is one less minute that I haven't lived._"

And when the clock chimed midnight the Bride and Groom were hidden away in the coat room, making new, better memories to go with their brand new start.

* * *

My Lover,

I'll always love you. I'm ready when you are.  
So... When.

Your Lover.

* * *

**Thank you for reading _Bridging the Gap_! I hope you've enjoyed the story and this small journey to happiness with one of our favorite couples (or with Rory if you're not a fan of the Rogan-ship)! **

**I hope you'll let me know what you think - love, hate, think it could be better, think it could've been worse... whatever. Thanks alot!  
**


	9. Epilogue

So this is it my friends, all my faithful readers, fans and critics! This is finally the end of _Bridging the Gap_!

As a final hurrah to all the readers and reviewers who have been watching this story over the last month (*cough* couple years *cough*), I present an **Epilogue** that gives you a glimpse into the life that Rory and Logan make for themselves and their growing family. **_Thank you to everyone who has read, reviewed, raved or razzed me about this story. And thank you too, to all of the fans who sent me PM's over the years asking me to "please, please, _finally_ finish BtG!" If it weren't for your random proddings I might never have ended up finishing the story!_**

Remember everyone: _I own nothing of the Gilmore Girls except my own plot lines, and invented characters. Everything else belongs to WB/CW and ASP!_

_

* * *

_

**Epilogue**

Hi Mom!

You will never believe who I saw on University Avenue today... George Clooney! I am 100%, swear on the Gilmore Girls Handbook, telling the truth. I felt like a complete fool, mostly because inside I was squealing like a teenage girl, but it was so cool. He actually talked to us mom! He told Logan and I that we had the most gorgeous little girl that he'd ever seen. Logan of course kept his cool and thanked him but all I could do was smile like an idiot and nod my head. Logan has been laughing at me all night but swear to God, I'm still grinning like a fool!

I miss you. I know that you were just here, like a month ago, and that I just talked on the phone with you yesterday, but I miss you. And I know that you're practically dying without a steady fix of Ellie so I'm sending this memory card to you too. It's plum full of new pictures of your grand-baby, and me, and it's all yours! (There _may_ even be a picture of Ellie and me with George!) I was just going to e-mail them to you, but then Logan pointed out that it would take _forever_ for you to download them. So he copied them here for you and there you have it.

Tell Luke and Sookie hi from me. Tell them that I miss their cooking and Luke's coffee. Tell Patty that now I understand (trust me she'll get it!) and tell Babette and Morey that we're thinking of getting a kitten. Or maybe a dog. It's still in the discussion phase. Tell everyone that I miss them and that I love them and that I'll see them in a month when we're there for Grandpa's birthday.

I love you Mom!

Rory

* * *

So, yeah...

Thank you EVERYONE for all of your support for my writing! I owe many of you, if not all of you, for my sanity. Writing keeps me... even. Level. And after all of the craziness of the last few years - writing my book, raising three kids, running the house, making money and, you know, just living - it's nice to be able to relax and do some 'fun' writing! I hope you liked _**Bridging the Gap**_ and that you'll check out my other stories - **Road to Heaven (completed), When the Going Gets Tough (one-shot), Best is Yet to Come (WIP), and An Ending or a New Beginning (WIP).**

Keep reading, keep having fun and keep coming back for more!

~apalusa-light~


End file.
